The To-Do List Is a Liar

In this week’s edition, let’s talk about the world’s most deceitful piece of stationery: the to-do list.

It starts off innocent. It always does.

You jot down a few tasks, feeling productive because writing them counts, right? You even add “make to-do list” just for that sweet first tick and feeling of satisfaction.

Then reality hits.

The “quick 10-minute task” morphs into a 2-hour rabbit hole. Reply to emails somehow means re-oragnising your inbox by colour-coded urgency (caught you off guard? good.)

Buy groceries turns into an existential crisis about meal prepping. And work on that big project? Nah.. haha that one just stares at you like a disappointed Asian parent.

By the end of the day, half the list is untouched, but you’re somehow exhausted..drained, despite spending an hour watching productivity hacks on YouTube. (Spoiler alert: none of them include actually doing the work.)

And the worst part about this? You write the same task again tomorrow, like it’ll magically complete itself if you just manifest hard enough.

So what have I learned? The to-do list isn’t the problem. It’s my delusional optimism about time. I acted like I was going to conquer the world between coffee and lunch.

Truth is, most days, crossing off three meaningful things is a hugeee win.

So here’s the move:

1. Write fewer tasks.

2. Prioritise one thing that actually matters.

3. Stop pretending you’ll finally sort the wardrobe this weekend. We both know you won’t.

So tick that off your list and call it a day. You’re living right now, in the present. And we never know how much time we have on this planet.

Talk soon,

Krish

❤️